


Managerial Affair

by professor_min



Series: The little things that makes him Choi Seungcheol [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Office, Boss/Employee Relationship, Bottom Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hate to Love, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Top Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-25 15:41:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16200560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professor_min/pseuds/professor_min
Summary: Jihoon doesn't exactly hate his manager. It is more like - they have clashing opinions and actions so it leans more to dislike? Yes, Jihoon is certain of that.Well, that is until he saw the weak side of Seungcheol.





	1. Where It All Began

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is another series of "The Little Things That Makes Him Choi Seungcheol" but it is an alternate universe edition. I know that I should finish up the first series but I am completely stumped and stuck on completing that series so I might not update it any time soon? It's been a long time, I know but for this series, I am hopefully able to finish it off since I don't plan to make it long.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it!

Lee Jihoon thinks that he is a great person, even with little flaws here and there. He greets all of his colleagues every morning, he helped the cleaners with throwing out garbage from their trash bin, and he even helped out his colleagues when they have troubles with those stupid excel sheets. Lee Jihoon is a great person, even though he has his very own flaws that even his best friend and he can point them out. Oddly enough, his flaws tend to fall into a certain category. That category is called “Satan of a Manager” or to put it simply, he tends to break from his “great person” identity whenever his manager is around him.

No offense to the manager. Jihoon is sure deep down under wherever his sanity relies; his manager is a good person himself. He keeps telling himself that for a year but until now, Jihoon sees no warmth in those cold eyes and stinging words. It is like Seoul just went to the worst winter season with god forbidden negative degrees whenever the manager opens his mouth to comment or nag at his colleagues.

_“You’re wearing glasses and you still can’t see that you’re missing a zero in this supposedly fucking five digits numbers. Do you want the company to get bankrupt, Mr. Hong?”_

_“Your textbook of an excuse is in no way applicable to your late of presence to this crucial meeting, Ms. Jung. I suggest for you to start writing a resignation letter and put it at my desk by this afternoon.”_

_“How many times do I have to tell you that you should never leave your computer unattended like this? Every person out there knows to put a password to their account. Do you not have a brain or are you plain stupid?”_

Jihoon knows that most of the naggings and comments are due to the other party’s own fault for their carelessness but he still thinks that the manager should have said it in a more proper and professional method instead of spewing words like that. Listen, he knows that he has his own beautiful colourful vocabulary but Jihoon has sympathy and empathy, unlike his manager, and somehow, that Satan in a form of a human is still attractive in the eyes of the women from the other department. They just never saw the demonic side of the manager. It is better that way perhaps.

His manager’s name is Choi Seungcheol. People would call him Manager Choi most of the time but he has heard Seungcheol’s friends calling him Cheol for short. That’s right, his _friends_ who are oddly enough the few of the nicest people there are on their floor and the floor above them. He still thinks that his manager is a great person judging by the fact that his friends are pretty cool and nice. It is still an odd sight to see Mingyu and Wonwoo jumping in and out of the manager’s office during lunch hour with take outs, even though he had been working with the manager for a year now. His cubicle is three rows and five columns down from the office, near the entrance of their department so he can see whatever his colleagues are up to on their computer. Even the freakiest shit he can ever witness in his life.

Speaking of the devil, Jihoon sees Seungcheol taking a brisk power walk out of the office and straight out from their department but something doesn’t feel right. There was this way of how distraught Seungcheol had looked with the front of his hair in a mess as if he had been messing with it, and a small grim on those pursed lips. Something doesn’t feel right. Jihoon stares down at the opened half way done excel sheet for their budget next year, and as much as he was never close with the manager aside from their talks about work related topics, there is this bell in his head that’s ringing and prickling him, telling him to save that damn sheet and look for Seungcheol.

He does exactly just that. He furiously clicked the control and “S” buttons before closing the sheet and put the laptop in sleep mode. It is currently lunch hour and a slow day so he can definitely take his time doing the sheet later on. Jihoon gets out of the department’s office and jogs down the hallway to look for Seungcheol, and after a few turns around the floor, he sees the familiar back of Seungcheol making a turn and open the door to enter the janitor’s storage room.

The young man raises his brows in surprise at the unusual characteristics of his manager, and he quietly walks over to the storage room without a sound of his polished dress shoes against the floor. It was strangely enough too quiet. Seungcheol wouldn’t be in a janitor’s storage room, more or less being eerily quiet inside of it. What if he is going to do the something that would unimaginable to anyone and hurt himself? What if Seungcheol tried to…?

_“Oh hell nah, not when I am around!”_

Jihoon quickly twist the doorknob and pushes open the door, ready to get into action and save Seungcheol from whatever stupid shit he was going to do but the sight was something that pulls Jihoon into a trance and silence. His manager is crouched down on the dusty floor with his head tucked in his arms that is folded and wrapped around his knees, sniffling and _crying_ to himself in the dark room. The only light that shone is coming from the outsource light behind Jihoon’s back. He doesn’t know what to do. Jihoon is stumped at the sight of Seungcheol pulling his head up and look at him with such pain in his eyes and damp cheeks.

“Seungcheol... M-manager…?” He corrects himself after the small slip up and closes the door behind him with a soft click, the light from outside going through the small slits of the door’s window barely reaches Seungcheol’s head but Jihoon knows that the man was crying his eyes out; all alone in the storage room. He hears a few sniffles and rustling of clothes before he could hear a scuffle of shoes as if Seungcheol was getting up and ready to take his leave until he hears the deep yet quiet voice of his, “I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Those few words pulls strings in his chest and before the taller man could move past him and leave the small room; Jihoon turns halfway and takes a hold of his manager’s bicep, stopping him from leaving. “No, you’re not going anywhere, Manager Choi,” he said while gently pulling Seungcheol’s arm to face him properly and the look on his face was grim again, something that Jihoon was not used to as it was usually stern and cold, “You’re going to tell me what happened. I mean…you can tell me what happened. Even if you won’t tell me about it, you’re not leaving this room until you’re feeling okay again.”

Somehow, those words pull Seungcheol to a verge of tears with trembling lower lip, and soon enough, the man who always have a cold façade crumbles right in front of Jihoon. He didn’t know what to do exactly as he was never good at comforting people but the instinct to protect Seungcheol was strong, and he pulls the tall man into his embrace with Seungcheol’s head promptly tuck in the crook of his neck. Both of them stood there with Seungcheol sobbing into his nape and Jihoon’s fingers massaging the back of his neck for a longer time than he had expected but it didn’t bother him the least, even with his clothes getting damp and wrinkly.

After long minutes had passed, they are both sitting down on the dusty floor with Jihoon listening to the troubles and concerns of his manager. It wasn’t that bad in the first few minutes of the story. It was just Seungcheol having an argument with his little brother who went out drinking and partying all night long until he had to stay overnight in the lockup cell from fighting then meaningless threats and words are said; his brother didn’t want to see him again and wants to move out of their house. Along the way to college, the bus he usually took got into an accident with a truck, and the hospital had called Seungcheol before lunch hour to notify him but he hadn’t gone to the hospital because of his brother’s words, _“I’m sick of you meddling with my life. Stop trying to be like a dad, and get the fuck out of my life. I don’t want to see your face again!”_

Jihoon felt awful for him but he also finds him a little bit naïve – is that the right word to describe such purity and obedience on meaningless words? He could only sigh and pet the top of his head in a comforting manner as he tries to build the right sentences to say but all it comes out was all that is in his head, “I think you should go and see your brother at the hospital, Seungcheol. Even if he said such things, he is still your little brother, right? Sometimes…sometimes when people get mad, they tend to say all the shit their hot head could come up with. I don’t think he means it.”

He lifts Seungcheol’s chin up to look at him in the eyes and offers him a gentle smile that reaches his eyes, “You can take a half day today and take a couple of days off to take care of your brother. I don’t think you’ll be able to work with your mind elsewhere and worrying about your brother, no?” Jihoon pulls the end of his sleeve and gently dabs his damp cheeks, not noticing the way Seungcheol is looking at him in a trance. He tidies his manager up by fixing his hair and his clothes, staring at his slightly puffy and red rimmed eyes once he was done, and Jihoon clicks his tongue as he makes a comment about how Seungcheol should go and wash his face to freshen up before coming back to the office.

As if Seungcheol is under a spell, he nods his head and watches Jihoon getting up and patting his slacks clean off of dust, straightening his shirt before heading over to the door but he stopped in his tracks to turn around and look at Seungcheol. “You better get your half day, Seungcheol. If I see you coming back to your office and never coming out, I’m assuming that you’re not getting your ass over to the hospital to see your brother. I won’t hesitate to call Mingyu and Wonwoo to drag you out of there. Now, I’m going to take my leave first to avoid any suspicions on why both of us are in the closet. I’ll see you in a few days, Manager Choi,” Jihoon bows his head then opens the door, leaving his manager in the storage room as if none of that had happened, and as if he hadn’t just instructed his manager to take a leave.

Lunch break ends in a breeze once he had left the room, and his colleagues asked where he had went since Jihoon usually doesn’t take his lunch outside when he had got to his cubicle. He merely shrugs in indifference and says, “I was just taking a short walk. My legs are sleeping, and the office felt stuffy.” Jihoon sits back down on his swivelling chair and logs back into his computer, his fingers moving and gliding across the keyboard as he continues doing the department’s budget sheet again, and even though his eyes are on the screen, Jihoon’s mind is lingering on the look of his manager’s crying face and his troubles on the matter. He could only wish and hope for the best for both of them. Around ten minutes later, he sees his manager entering the department’s office, still looking grim but less messy, just like how he had left him at the storage room.

Through his peripheral vision, he sees Seungcheol entering his own office but leaves minutes later with his bag and coat slung over his forearm, and went over to talk with the assistant manager, Jeonghan. In Jihoon’s mind, he can figure out what they were talking about since Jeonghan had looked worried but the talk was cut short as the manager quickly brushes past everyone in the office. Somehow, during the rush, both of them had made eye contact, and for the first time ever, he sees Seungcheol mouthing, _“Thank you”_ with the ends of his lips pulled into a small yet weak smile before leaving their department. Jihoon thinks that he will be fine. Seungcheol and his brother would be fine. Joshua said that praying to god helps, and all they need is to put a little more trust on god.

For a few days, Jihoon didn’t see his manager at the office, and truth to be told – it felt a little bit odd and quiet around the office. The work production at the office has become slow, and everyone at the office was more laid back compared to when Seungcheol was present there. To say that he felt a huge missing presence at the office because of a certain manager that has an image of a Satan, he could admit to himself that he kind of misses Seungcheol’s nagging and little fiery explosions from their colleagues’ mistakes but he would never admit that to Joshua and Soonyoung. Their innocent and pure looks are nothing but a façade.

Seungcheol was gone from the office for the whole week and during the weekend, Jihoon wonders to himself if everything is alright for them. He didn’t have his usual weekend naps on the couch and sleeping in till the afternoon, not when Seungcheol keeps on popping in his head, and worrying about him almost the whole entire two days. Gladly enough Monday comes in quick and Jihoon can distract himself by working at his cubicle all day long. That Monday morning, when Jihoon is sitting at his desk, balancing a pen on his philtrum as he frowns at the crazy amount of digits displaying on his laptop’s screen, Jihoon sees through the corner of his eyes of a familiar figure. He turns his attention away and looks at the man standing near the entrance, and to his relief, it was Seungcheol holding two cups of coffee in a paper carrier in one hand while the other is tapping his identification card against the machine.

Jihoon can’t keep his eyes off of Seungcheol as he watches him quietly saunter over to his cubicle, and place a cup of hot coffee next to his laptop. “Thank you…for helping me, Jihoon,” Seungcheol said while fidgeting in front of his small cubicle and he rambles on, “This is a sign of gratitude for uhm… the other day. Thank you…and maybe, I can take you out for a drink? It’ll be just us – as colleagues. If you would like that idea…?” He wants to laugh at how fidgety and nervous his manager looks like right now but it’s cute. Jihoon is glad that no one is around to see how Seungcheol looks like right now. He reaches over and takes a small sip of the coffee, smiling at how overly sweetened the coffee is but he looks up at Seungcheol with the same smile and says, “Sure. That sounds great to me, Manager Choi.”


	2. In Its Glory Glinting State

Jihoon and Seungcheol finally decided to go out for a drink on a Sunday instead after several awkward sounding texts. Both of them were too tired by the time Friday evening approached after long hours of meetings and trainings for their new system in the company, and they decided to go out drinking on a different day instead.

They couldn’t’ go on a Saturday either since Seungcheol had promised to attend to a family gathering on a Saturday. Well, a Sunday isn’t such a bad day to him at least. Jihoon likes to lounge and sleep in his bed during the weekends. By the time the end of the week arrived, Jihoon was honest to god, feeling a bit nervous and jittery in the nerves after realizing that he is going out drinking with his manager.

_“I don’t even know what to wear! This is a casual outing right? I think it is… come on, Jihoon. I’m sure you have something not too casual and not too overdressed in this damn closet.”_

After several tosses of his clothes onto the floor, he opted to put on a pair of faded blue jeans, a black pullover, and a cap to complete his casual look. Jihoon stands in front of the mirror with a small scowl on his face, thinking to himself after scrutinising his own clothing choices that this is probably a bit too casual for an outing with a manager.

This would probably fit better if he were to go out drinking with Seokmin. He glances over to the clock ticking at the wall, mocking him loudly that he would be late and misses the bus if he didn’t leave in- exactly now. Grumbling a small curse under his breath, he grabs everything he needed and runs out of his small apartment, and thankfully, he didn’t miss the bus this time around unlike other days.

He hops inside the bus and tells Seungcheol through messaging that he will be there soon enough, and minutes later, he gets a reply with a simple, “Okay! I’m on my way there too. Take your time” that ends with a smiley face at the end of it. It’s too cute. Who uses such smiley faces from the old days, now that there are such things such as emoticons? Well, it seems like it is Seungcheol, of course.

The journey to reach there wasn’t too long. Seungcheol says that the restaurant they will be heading to is pretty close to his place, and as soon as Jihoon taps his bus card out, he sees Seungcheol from across the street, leaning against a wall of a convenience store, and _Jesus Christ_ – is he wearing a leather jacket?

Feeling a little bit cheeky, he unlocks his phone and decides to call Seungcheol who is just across the street from him. He stares at how the older man takes out his phone then tilts his head upon looking at the screen before proceeding to answer the call, “Hello?” Jihoon snorts quietly at the simple greeting and decides to mess with him a bit, remembering how flustered Seungcheol looked during the early of the week, “I really hope you’re not wearing anything thick or warm tonight.”

He watches the manager while leaning against the pole of the bus stop and continues on his teasing, “You know, anything like a jacket – specifically, a leather jacket perhaps. It’s going to be really hot later on in the restaurant, and I hate looking at people’s sweat while I’m eating.”

From across the street, he sees Seungcheol looking down at himself and fumbles with the ends of the zipper with his fingers, kicking the ground with his lower lip bitten. If he looks closely and narrow his eyes, he might as well see the man flushing at his own choice of clothing after hearing the most random thing being spoken by Jihoon out of the blue.

“Uhm… I’m definitely not wearing one? Is it a problem if I do though?” Seungcheol asked with a small static in his line, his hand scratching the back of his head in the sight of Jihoon’s eyes, and he wants to laugh at the small bounce of his heels as if he is ready to run back home to change.

“Most definitely, Manager Choi. I wouldn’t want to start gagging and losing both of our appetites because of it,” Jihoon snickers and pushes himself off the pole to start waiting at the crossing road for the light to turn green so that he could cross the street, all the meanwhile continuing his teasing with a growing smile on his lips, “Are you perhaps wearing a leather jacket now, Seungcheol? You sound like you’re wearing one right now. You’re not very good at lying, aren’t you?”

He glances up once the light turns green and cross the street with light steps, his eyes still fixed on his manager who slowly turns around and lean his forehead against the wall and mumbles into the microphone, “I’m not sure if I should answer that. Are you still far from getting here? I think I might be a little late cause –,” His sentence was cut short when Jihoon decides to interrupt the little despair Seungcheol was having with a simple sentence that goes, “You look good.”

Seungcheol quickly turns around with a small yelp and wide eyes when he hears Jihoon’s voice from behind him, and what… did he say about him? “What…?” He said dumbly while taking in the different look Jihoon is carrying out of their office, and it would be a lie if Seungcheol wasn’t attracted to him for a second over there. “I said you look good. Leather jackets suits you, Seungcheol. So where are we going again?”

Jihoon hangs up their call and raises a brow at the flustered looking man, keeping his eyes on Seungcheol who just shoves his hand and phone into one of the pockets of his jacket while the other hand points down a street on his right. “It’s just a small place five minutes from here. I hope you’re okay with pork belly and soju or beer?”

That doesn’t sound so bad at all. He was getting hungry anyway. Jihoon nods his head and follows him down the street, and surprisingly enough, their short distance of walking was comfortable with small talks of what they were doing in the morning before meeting with each other.

It wasn’t so bad. Seungcheol isn’t so bad after all.

They both settled down at a table for two near the window, the glass starting to get foggy from the smoke of other grillers, and just like Jihoon had said before, the restaurant had gotten warmer which resulted into Seungcheol taking off his jacket and lays it across his lap. It is a simple white shirt that Seungcheol is wearing but Jihoon still finds it unfairly attractive. Whatever Seungcheol does is _unfairly_ attractive in Jihoon’s eyes from ordering their dinner and opening the bottle of beer for Jihoon and a soju for himself to taking a small bite of the side dishes laid out in front of him.

Does it sway Jihoon a little? Maybe it does but Jihoon isn’t the type to fall for someone that easily and that quickly either, especially after his strong dislike against his manager. Hate is a strong word. Dislike is a more polite way of saying, _“I hate your guts and your snobby face.”_

“So you never ride a bicycle before?”

The man cladded in white simply smiles in embarrassment with his head tipping down to hide his eyes away from Jihoon, his cheeks already flushed due to alcohol, and yet he nodded his head a beat later, “We couldn’t really afford a bicycle back then. There are a lot of things I wanted to do. You know, like a bucket list? I only managed to cross out a few in my list.”

Jihoon stares at him with his chin propped up in his palm, thinking to himself how boring his childhood life must have been if Seungcheol’s family had lived in poverty. Amazingly, their conversation has gone from their favourite way of cooking the pork belly to their childhood, and somehow, it has turned into a topic of bucket list. _Bucket list is a pretty cool idea_ , Jihoon had thought while nodding his head to his manager’s words, and he abruptly blurts out while being tipsy on beer, “What’s one of the weirdest or craziest thing on your list that you haven’t done yet? I don’t know…maybe because you’re afraid to do it or something? Something crazy like sky diving.”

A drunken Jihoon is someone who likes to be fairly blunt and honest, maybe a little bit too harsh but that is because of the alcohol’s influence. Sometimes, he gets a bit grumpy and nags people’s ears off over the smallest things like having not enough napkins at their table. Seungcheol is similar to Jihoon when he is drunk but a little less harsh and dainty, and a lot more giggly and bright. It’s something that Jihoon had never seen before since they had never hung out in other open opportunities, and it is an unexpected yet pleasant surprise about his manager and Jihoon likes that but the next thing that comes out from Seungcheol’s lips – really is an unexpected surprise.

“I want to have sex…with a guy who has a piercing in their dick.”

Jihoon’s chin slipped against his palm upon listening to it from surprise, and he looks at how smiley Seungcheol is as if he didn’t just say one of the things he doesn’t actually really need to know. Jihoon really doesn’t need to know about that – that specific detail about a pierced dick. He is drunk. Seungcheol is drunk. Jihoon has a piercing in his dick. He is begrudgingly turned on by it. His rational and sober mind would be screaming at him to _back the fuck up and run_ but his drunken state of mind decides to lean a little closer to Seungcheol with his elbows on the table, and offers to cross the wish off Seungcheol’s bucket list.

“I can help you with that, Seungcheol.”

The minutes passed by in silence and slow ticks. Jihoon’s eyes are getting watery and burned from the smoke emitting from their shared griller, and his drunken mind is still thinking that this is a good idea and the right opportunity to have sex after being dry of it for almost two months.

Their leftovers pork belly is getting a bit too charred as he keeps his eyes on Seungcheol’s that are wide and glossy with drunkenness. Another minute pass by and Seungcheol reaches for his glass of soju to finish it in one shot, dropping the glass back down onto the table with a clank, and he keeps his eyes down on the glass in his hand and finally answers, “We can head over to my place. Hansol is out tonight at the dorms.”

That was the sign that Jihoon wanted from him. They get up and Seungcheol pays for their meals as promised, and they walk down the street that leads to Seungcheol’s apartment that could fit for two. Their walk is pretty civilised, keeping their hands to themselves, all the meanwhile taking glances at each other, and when they have gotten into the elevator, Seungcheol had cornered him to the wall and leans down for a chaste kiss.

It was a kiss that is very simple and short yet it burns the desire of Jihoon to do unexplainably dirty things to his manager. They get off on Seungcheol’s floor and take a fast pace to the door, and as soon as Seungcheol unlocks and opens it, he is being pushed inside and spun to press him against the back of the door with a searing kiss.

Jihoon couldn’t explain how soft his lips are being pressed flushed against his own with naughty bites and licks from Jihoon. The small pout on his lips instead of a frown as per usual at the office is driving him crazy, and so is the friction their groins are experiencing from their small yet languid rolls of hips of desperation.

“So you really want to experience it with a pierced dick…?” He asks while brushing their lips together with his fingers buried deep in the locks of Seungcheol’s hair, tugging him down closer to him so he wouldn’t have to crane his neck so high. “Yeah… I want to know how it feels like to give a blowjob with it rubbing against my tongue,” Seungcheol whispers in short breaths, his own hands gripping the small waist of Jihoon’s, and the small groan coming from the shorter man brings a shiver through his body; suddenly, the sound of Jihoon’s moans and groans are all the things he needed to hear now.

“We can do that,” he said after pulling back from the kiss, keeping his eyes on Seungcheol’s dazed pair, and he slowly forces the taller man to get down on his knees by the head, his other hand coming up to hold the jaw of Seungcheol’s in his palm once he is on his knees with a wicked look, “Open up, baby.” Jihoon coos while undoing the front of his jeans, tugging the waistband of his clothes down, and he smirks upon the look of amazement yet embarrassment forming on Seungcheol’s face when the shiny metal protruding underneath the crown of his half hard cock glints in the dimly lit hallway.

He sees the hesitance in Seungcheol’s eyes for a moment as he parts his soft lips, hesitating whether or not this is a good idea to immediately jump into an opportunity while being drunk but the gentle and comforting rubs from Jihoon against his scalp brings him into a melting state from affection.

With a glance to look up and into Jihoon’s eyes, the heated gaze from the man standing in front of him is what brings him to surrender under his gaze. Seungcheol licks his lips once with his pink and nervous tongue, and he slowly leans in with parted lips to wrap them around the head of Jihoon’s cock, the cold metal pressing against his flushed lips eases him to close his eyes and moans with a stuttering breath.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired from "The Beauty of Normality" by Camelabrakedabra, a JeongCheol story but my adaption(?) to it with a different pairing! The story will be different from the original one as I will put my own turn of events in this series and making it shorter than the original one. The story has greatly inspired me and I recommend for you guys to check it out because their writing style is very intriguing even when it is in 1st POV.
> 
> I hope that you guys enjoyed the first chapter to Managerial Affair. Please leave some kudos and comments! Your love and support are the things that make me keep on writing this series :)


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